The Centre for Human Rights at the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, invites you to the Pretoria Symposium on preventing atrocities and protecting civilians in Africaa
ALL MEANS NECESSARY: BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN THE DOCTRINE OF R2P AND THE ACTUAL PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS IN ARMED CONFLICT
Date: Thursday 18 September and Friday 19 September 2014
Time: 08:30 - 17:30 (both days)
Venue: Merensky Library Auditorium, Hatfield Campus, University of Pretoria
RSVP: Kindly confirm your attendance by Monday 15 September 2014 by sending an email to bright.nkrumah@up.ac.za
Enquiries Bright Nkrumah (bright.nkrumah@up.ac.za ) / Carole Viljoen (carole.viljoen@up.ac.za)
There is no registration fee but pre-registration is compulsory. Refreshments and lunch will be provided for the duration of the conference.
About the Symposium
The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, South Africa, in conjunction with the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) through the Africa Military Law Forum, will hold a symposium at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, from 18 to 19 September 2014 under the theme: “All means necessary: Bridging the Gap between the Doctrine of R2P and the Actual Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict”.
The symposium will bring together academics, policy makers, and practitioners in the field of protection of civilians to discuss, share experiences and provide lessons learnt in order to find solutions to the legal, policy, and practical challenges involved in the drafting and adoption of the protection of civilian mandates by the United Nations (UN) Security Council and their implementation on the ground.
The symposium will provide concrete recommendation to guide the military and humanitarian actors on the protection of civilians. The papers that will be presented at the symposium will be published in a peer reviewed journal or book. The goal of the Pretoria symposium is to enhance a ‘culture of protection’, reduce the vulnerability of civilian populations, and ensure compliance with international human rights law (IHRL) and international humanitarian law (IHL) obligations in the implementation of the right to intervene under Article 4(h) of the Constitutive Act of the African Union (AU) and the responsibility to protect (R2P) operations.
This expert symposium seeks to discuss, share experiences and provide lessons learnt in order to find solutions to the legal, policy, and practical challenges involved in the drafting and adoption of the protection of civilian mandates by the United Nations (UN) Security Council and their implementation on the ground and to provide concrete recommendation to guide the military and humanitarian actors on the protection of civilians.
